This is technically a prequel to Lies We Tell Ourselves, but can be read without reading it. It's recommended you do, though.
After Rainbow Dash gets in trouble, Fluttershy and Sunset go to find out why. They discover that there are some people worth fighting for. Literally.
Part of my Transverse AU!
Originally written for Quills and Sofas Speedwritings LGBTQ+ Extravaganza contest. Thank you to everyone who read the original version of this (not much was added or changed honestly). Also submitted as part of the Pride and Positivity Event! Consider donating to the following charities, please:
- Transgender Law Center
- Palestine Children's Relief Fund
- Sewa International (Indian charity collecting funds for COVID relief)
Violence tag is for implied violence and mentions of blood.
Broke - Twiset
Woke - Summershy
The only thing I don’t like about this is that we don’t get an offended rarity popping out of the bushes to correct them on their impressions. Utter disappointment darling
No but for realsies, loved this. The characters are great, the pace and flow of the story is good and I especially love how you handled Dash’s parents.
Oh, and as for my promise - hecc you you fantastic writer and artist you. Hecc you down to HECC
10892754
WOW i cannot believe youd come spew hate on my own story smh smh smh i will never be the same after this. i may just give up writing forever now.
lmao no but seriously thanks for the comment! I’m glad you enjoyed. And you're right I totally missed out on having impromptu Rarity lmfao.
Poor Fluttershy's getting her character twisted into a pretzel to justify the story's violence.
Is that an aromantic RD I spy?
10892828
Yknow I cant really deny that
10892850
Yes indeed it is!
A nice little piece. Wish I'd read this before the sequel though.
10926411
Fair enough. I wrote them out of order which kinda sucks but *shrug*. Thanks though.
10926427
They were both good. Only thing that didn't seem spot on was that Fluttershy was wearing pyjamas in the middle of the day. But we've all slept in every once in a while.
A lot of stories on this site are dedicated to the perspective significant other of a trans character or the trans character figuring out that they're trans. Oh, there are exceptions, but they're not enough to really diversify how far this story element can go. Getting a glimpse of trans characters through friends, parents, and (spoilers for the sequel) potentially characters who have yet to start transitioning were great to see. The fact that you managed to weave in authentic examples of an aro character (goodness knows that is underrepresented on the site), a trans guy, and a polycule in a way that feels skillful and familiar is great! This story has a lot of unique headcanons and perspectives that are accessible for readers who don't usually pick up stories with LGBT themes or might feel that they're alienated trying to understand the contents. Solid realism and characterization, and all-around gud shite setting up for the sequel.
I absolutely hope to see more stories that explore this AU of yours, whether it touches on characters we haven't gotten the chance to focus on yet, or the development of the ones shown in the existing stories.
11004929
Ahhh thank you! I did wanna make this have a variety of identities since it was written for the big shebang queer speedwrite at QnS, but I also did want it to fit into the universe I created (which I have a whole document filled with info for it because its an established AU) and all of this felt right, even back when I was thinking about the AU. You’re not the first person to want more of this AU, and I myself do want to write more so definitely I will do that some time.
11005139
A WHOLE document, you say?
11005205
yes indeed
This was the most heartwarming story I’ve read in a long time man I kinda wish you’d of had RD cry because it would of been not only heartwarming but powerful too because she can’t be tough all the time sometimes she can’t help it and it would shock us all and would of given us so much emotion maybe would of moved myself to tears because this is a very powerful storyline but I applaud you my friend this gets a huge upvote from me!
I do hope you will take this consideration into suggestion for a future story :)
Edit: hey maybe their could be a bonus chapter where it turns out Dash isn’t ok she just didn’t wanna cry infront of her parents maybe you could even delve deeper into her mental and emotional state because we all know she holds everything back and shuts everyone out especially in Equestria girls maybe Fluttershy and sunset could help breakdown those emotional walls
As you can probably tell I am a very deep person
11006671
Yknow I almost wanted to do something like that, but I wanted this to be more of a positive story. Thanks for your comment and upvote though! :>
I'm trying to search for a way to start this in a formal, complimentary way, but I'll just have to discard it on account of how much I adore this story! I've noticed a small pattern with your work, in that, I don't read them so much as I do watch them play out like a movie in my head, or live through them on account of them being so natural and relatable! Plus SummerShy is so fucking big-brained, and the way you wrote them made me almost melt through the floor.
There's something to be said for how you write actions for your characters, and how they're soaked in characterization! Like Fluttershy gingerly sneaking out of the house in her pajamas and driving out to pick up her girlfriend, how she acts with Sunset, how perfectly you captured Rainbow Dash's everything (especially being aro! The way you went about that was incredible, and also rare on the site!!) or the grounded details about winter and getting into a cold car. In fact, I really love how you write cars as a whole, there's truly a lot to
steallearn from that!Now some might say that this story's message is violent, but I don't know how anyone writing Rainbow Dash not getting violent when someone bad mouths her friends. She's hot-headed, scrappy, and confident enough in her physical prowess to throw hands with anyone, even if it means taking on three people and losing. Because the point really wasn't to win, it was to, as you said, demonstrate that some things are worth fighting for, even if you get your ass beat! Beyond that, I don't know how anyone would write Sunset not getting violent either, I mean, she's literally gotten physical in the show.
On that note, I want to say that I like that this piece wasn't a gutsy action fic, that would kind of defeat the point. It might've been good to read Rainbow Dash getting clocked, and then throwing a haymaker in response, but I much prefer watching Rainbow Dash sitting sullenly on the steps of a police department recount what happened. It might've been really fun to read about Dash getting booked, but it was a unique kind of stellar to see watch Rainbow and Sunset take turns doing their bad Rarity impression.
Overall, this was an incredibly fun fic whose pace never let up, and whose prose never failed to include characterization at every opportunity! Everything you set out to do in this fic, seemingly to me, turned out perfectly! Between Aro Dash (Thinking about her proudly calling herself Arodynamic), Poly RariTwiJack (based ship), and Summershy adorably playing out and inspiring me to write the pair, this piece was a masterclass in natural character interactions! Astounding work!
11047660
Oh man yet another very nice long comment here that made me smile! Yet again, you seem to find positives in the story that other people saw as flaws. What you say about my writing makes me so happy that I don’t even know what to do. PS I love Arodynamic that is gold. Aghhhh its just such a nice comment thank you again.
This was really nice, and everyone's roles in the story felt appropriate, including Rainbow being so protective. Nice to see some SunShy and aro Rainbow too. Fluttershy could have taken the time to put on a coat, though >_>
11232180
Thanks for another comment ^^
Gotta love me some protective aro Dash, and I’m happy to say that Krickis is the one who made me an unabashed SunShy shipper. Shy was too eager to go that she forgot to actually get ready! Poor Shy
I spy with my little eye... an aro RD! And SunShy? I'm a SciSet shipper but Krickis's stories got me shipping them too
Seriously, great story. Everyone felt in character, the interactions were great, etc.
11279560
Yup! Your eyesight is spot on. I’ve always kind of had a liking towards the idea of Rainbow Dash being aromantic but I never really had a good story to include that in. Figured I had a good opportunity in this AU! And yeah, SciSet is my main Sunset ship but, like you, Krickis has me shipping things I’ve never even thought about haha!
Thanks (again) for a nice comment! I just realized you left multiple
I just wanna say thank you for the little nugget of aro RD. I don’t see many aromantic characters out there, even in headcanons. It was completely unexpected, but it felt so right when I was reading it. It blindsided me so hard that I actually started crying? Idk, blame it on the childhood attachment to Rainbow Dash, coupled with the elation at seeing that part of me represented. An absolute double-whammy to my psyche that I never knew I needed. But God, did I need that. So thank you so, so much. What an absolutely phenomenal fic. I haven’t gotten to read the rest of this series yet, but I can’t wait to get started. <3333
11399998
Hey! Oh my God actually thank you so much for this comment. I know how important having rep (even in fanfic tbh) is, and especially aro rep. When I wrote this, I wanted her to be aro mostly because I had been thinking about aromantic Dash for a while, but also cause I wanted this series of fics to really just go all out with orientations and all that.
I didn’t know at the time that I would end up identifying as aromantic myself. That was a recent thing, like very recent. I wish that aromanticism was talked about more often because it would have made things so much easier for me and my self discovery. After all that, seeing this comment made me really happy. I’m so glad that it affected you in that way. Again thank you so much for the comment, and I really hope you enjoy the rest of them if you liked this one. This motivates me to write more of this AU because I’m definitely not done with it. Who knows? Maybe I’ll write an aro Dash centred fic some day.
Still, whatever she did was still bad.
I'm guessing they're referring to Timber?
Oh most definitely.
Applejack is female.
That's the last thing I'd expect to see.
Agreed.
11492939
There are two other stories that explain why AJ is referred to as a guy at this point in time. She very much is a woman, she just hasn't realized it yet.
And the guy they are referring to is not Timber, but Twilight who came out and is a guy in this AU.
in the ancient words, "Talk shit, Get hit"